GHENT, Belgium, 2 October 2012 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels:
ABLX] today announced a collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc.,
through a subsidiary, to develop and commercialise Nanobody®
candidates directed towards a voltage gated ion channel with the
option to develop and commercialise a Nanobody to a second target.
Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada.

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck gains exclusive global
rights to Nanobodies against the selected target, with an option
for similar rights to a second target. Upon signing, Merck will pay
Ablynx a €6.5 million upfront payment and a €2 million
fee for research funding. In addition, Ablynx will be eligible to
receive up to €448 million in research, regulatory and
commercial milestone payments associated with the progress of
multiple candidates as well as tiered royalties on any products
derived from the collaboration. Ablynx will be responsible for the
discovery of Nanobody candidates and Merck will be responsible for
the research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of
any Nanobody product resulting from the collaboration.

Dr Edwin Moses, Chairman and CEO of Ablynx said:

“We are delighted to initiate this collaboration with
Merck in the area of ion channels where to date monoclonal
antibodies have demonstrated little success. Due to the formatting
flexibility of Nanobodies, we are able to combine antibody-like
selectivity and multi-specificity in one molecule, making them
ideal candidates for ion channel modulators. This agreement
reflects the potential power of the Nanobody platform and the
considerable success we have had to date with seven Nanobody
programmes at the clinical development stage.”

“We are excited to be working with Ablynx to evaluate the
potential of the Nanobody technology directed towards this
challenging ion channel target," said Richard Hargreaves, Ph.D.,
Vice President and Head of Neuroscience Discovery Research at
Merck.

About Ablynx’ expertise in ion channels

Ablynx has already demonstrated modulation of ion channel
activity in electrophysiology assays and has identified functional
Nanobodies against both voltage-gated and ligand-gated ion
channels. Nanobodies can be generated to have either an agonistic
(enhancing) or antagonistic (blocking) effect.

About ion channels

The physiological importance of ion channels is underlined by
their involvement in a wide range of conditions including
neurological disorders, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and
arrhythmia. Ion channels

represent highly valuable therapeutic targets which are
currently modulated by a range of small molecule drugs. In 2011,
sales of the top 20 best-selling ion channel drugs amounted nearly
$14 billion.1 Today, there are no approved antibody-based drugs
that target ion channels.

About Ablynx Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in
the discovery and development of Nanobodies®, a novel class of
therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, for
a range of serious human diseases, including inflammation,
haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease. Today, the Company has
approximately 25 programmes in the pipeline and seven Nanobodies at
clinical development stage. Ablynx has ongoing research
collaborations and significant partnerships with major
pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck
Serono, Novartis, and Merck & Co. The Company is headquartered
in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on
www.ablynx.com.

For more information, please contact

Ablynx:

Dr Edwin Moses

Chairman and CEO

t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07

m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 / +32 (0)473 39 50 68

e: edwin.moses@ablynx.com

Marieke Vermeersch

Associate Director Investor Relations

t: +32 (0)9 262 00 82

m: +32 (0)479 49 06 03

e: marieke.vermeersch@ablynx.com

@AblynxABLX

M:Communications:

Mary-Jane Elliott, Amber Bielecka, Claire Dickinson

t: +44 207 920 2330

e: ablynx@mcomgroup.com

Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release
are forward-looking, which reflect the Company’s or, as
appropriate, the Company’s directors’ current
expectations and projections about future events. By their nature,
forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties
and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking
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adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and
events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not
limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can
cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly
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contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities
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release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in
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accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the
actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not
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only as of the date of this press release.